Employers seeking to boost worker productivity would
be wise to improve the air
quality in their workplaces.

That’s the conclusion of a
new report from Germany’s
Leibniz University and the
Columbia Business School
in New York, which found
that even a modest increase
in pollutants had a “large and
significant” negative impact
on strategy, information usage
and crisis response.

Fresh Air Eases Work—
The Effect of Air Quality on
Individual Investor Activity

Twenty-four managers,architects and designersspent six days performingtheir normal work routinesin a highly controlled workenvironment, as researchersaltered air quality. Theyfound that improving indoorair quality can more thandouble people’s reasoningscores. Performance in“green” conditions, includingenhanced ventilation,averaged twice that ofparticipants in conventionalenvironments.

Researchers estimated
the productivity benefit
from doubling ventilation
rates is $6,500 per person
per year, not including other
potential benefits, such as
reduced cases of sick-building
syndrome and absenteeism.

“It’s in the domain of HR
executives to elevate the
conversation around the true
cost of operating businesses
and how the building
influences bottom-line costs,”
says Allen.

The Good NewsAbout Automation

According to a new report, automation could replace up
to one-third of the global
workforce by 2030.

Even if millions lose their
jobs, rising consumption,
an aging population’s new
demands and the continuation
of new technologies will
create ample jobs to meet
workforce needs, says Susan
Lund, one of the authors of
McKinsey’s Jobs Lost, Jobs
Gained: Workforce Transitions
in a Time of Automation.

“There will be plenty of
jobs,” Lund says.

But those jobs won’t bethe same ones we have now;anywhere from 75 million to

375 million workers worldwide
will have to switch jobs to stay
employed. Mid-career training
will be key, and companies
will need to rethink their
business models and also how
they hire, train and promote
employees.

AT&T is already doing
this work, says Lund. To
make its workers more
digitally capable, it partnered
with the Georgia Institute
of Technology to create an
online masters program,
allowing workers to add
skills while retaining their
jobs. Still, Lund cautions, “no
company has cracked this yet.

It’s very much on the mindsof many executives.”A reportfrom WillisTowersWatson saysartificialintelligenceandautomationwere usedto completejust 5 percent of work donein the U.S. three years ago, afigure that has since jumpedto 9 percent, and which itprojects will soar to 17 percentin three years. “We see it asan opportunity,” says TraceyMalcolm, the global leaderof Willis Towers Watson’sFuture of Work program,adding HR departments willhave to reconfigure how theyhandle rewards, benefits,performance managementand career management.

In a Willis Towers Watson
poll, fewer than 5 percent
of companies say their
HR departments are fully
prepared for digitization,
although one-third feels
somewhat prepared.

According to John B. Lewis, a partner in BakerHostetler’s
Cleveland office, the court will answer whether an agreement
requiring disputes to be individually arbitrated violates the National
Labor Relations Act, a decision he says could be “dramatic,” as
many employers rely on arbitration to avoid costly litigation.

While the oral argument revealed a divided court, many
expect a 5-4 vote, with Justice Kennedy holding the deciding vote,
anticipated later this year.

Free Speech vs. Religious Rights

Masterpiece Cakeshop Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission
essentially asks: Does the act of making a wedding cake entitle
a baker to First Amendment protection? More than 100 amicus
briefs have been filed on both sides of the argument.

According to BakerHostetler’s Lewis, some argue that a
wedding cake is a creative expression entitled to First Amendment
protection, while others maintain compelled-speech principles
are;not;implicated. Rather, they state that Colorado anti-discrimination law does not regulate the message, but only the
selection of customers on the basis of sexual orientation.

“This controversy over speech versus anti-discrimination lawis of great consequence,” Lewis says. “If the making and sale of acake is entitled to First Amendment protection, what activity wouldnot be?;What other religious principles [for observant Christians,Jews and Islamic craftsmen] might be involved in commercialactivity? Line-drawing will be very difficult for the court.”“Again, Justice Kennedy appears to hold the deciding vote,” he says.

Overtime and FLSA

Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro poses the question of whether
car-dealership service advisors are exempt from overtime pay
under the Fair Labor Standards Act. According to Collin O’Connor
Udell, with Jackson Lewis in Hartford, Conn., the justices may also
address whether FLSA exemptions for overtime should continue to
be narrowly construed.

“This question is an outgrowth of the ‘remedial statutes areto be liberally construed’ canon—one of Justice Scalia’s favoritetargets of criticism,” she says. “Should the court decide to addressit, Justice Gorsuch may take the same dim view of the canon, andit’s likely that Justices Thomas and Alito will as well.”Should the court narrow the definition of the “salesman, partsman or mechanic” overtime exemption within the FLSA, the resultwould mean requiring employers to pay overtime compensation toemployees who would have previously been exempt.

If Justices Thomas, Alito and Gorsuch vote for exemptions to be
narrowly construed, it leaves the question of whether their briefs
“can persuade enough justices to carry the day in favor of the
employer.”